As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Many portable information handling systems use battery chargers to control the charging of batteries associated with the portable information handling system. Some portable information handling systems have circuitry within the battery charger that is used to limit input power depending on the type of alternating current (AC) adapter used with the system. This input power measurement provides a course measurement of input power for the sole purpose of limiting input power. Input power limits are required in certain geographic regions, and input power control is provided to meet these requirements.
Many users of portable information handling systems desire the ability to measure power usage by the portable information handling systems. While accurate power usage measurement exists for more expensive server systems and other higher-end systems that are designed to run primarily on an AC power supply, power usage measurements for portable systems are not accurate and are often not even available. As such, users and enterprise owners of portable information handling systems have little if any visibility in to the power utilized by these portable information handling systems.